• Ben Chatwin – Heat and Entropy

    It’s nice when an LP’s cover so succinctly summarises what the album holds. Heat and Entropy, the latest LP from experimental Scottish composer Ben Chatwin, has one of those images. The picture in question is of the underside of a squid against a purely black backdrop. It’s crisp, detailed and leaves to the imagination as the mouth, suction cups and moisture of the cephalopod’s underside are prominently visible. It’s a striking and almost hideous vision of the natural world that because of the void-like darkness that surrounds it; it looks as though it would torment you were you in a…

  • TTNG – Disappointment Island

    Despite the vast number of changes in line-up since their formation just over twelve years ago, TTNG have been a steady trio for the past five years. This comes across in what is over all, a solid and consistent third album from the math-rock Brits. Even the title, Disappointment Island could suggest a bout of confidence for them, as had they failed to produce a somewhat decent listen the title itself would provide an ideal base for thoughtless, crummy criticism. Instead, they have succeeded in compiling a reliable set of ten tracks that hold true to the sound that TTNG (or This Town Needs Guns as they…

  • Róisín Murphy – Take Her Up To Monto

    With the promotional admission that Róisín Murphy’s latest full-length album Take Her Up To Monto was born from sessions concurrent to her last LP, the faultlessly idiosyncratic Hairless Toys, the worry listeners faced was that the ‘new’ material on offer so shortly after might have been, well, old. But in typically daring fashion, what has resulted from these sessions is a collection of tracks that boasts the same verve and vibrancy as heard on Hairless Toys, but with a razor’s edge running throughout that’s explicit in differentiating THUTM from its predecessor – a feat that few manage to coherently demonstrate. The thing is though, fans can…

  • Biffy Clyro – Ellipsis

    There is that Morrissey line that seems rather pertinent when discussing the latter part of Biffy Clyro’s career: we hate it when our friends become successful. Witnessing one of the UK’s most beloved cult acts completely dominate the charts was always going to be true sight to behold. On their journey to the top however, the group lost what made them so fascinating in the first place; their ridiculous tonal shifts sidelined in favour of more straightforward pop-oriented direction. Their previous album – the bloated, underwhelming double album Opposites – was a testament to this fact as none of its twenty…

  • Johnny Foreigner – Mono No Aware

    After just shy of ten years performing together Johnny Foreigner have just released their fifth album. The indie four-piece, hailing from Birmingham, show both promise and consistency with their latest release, Mono No Aware. Consistency is blatantly obvious, with the album comprising of eleven solid, terrifically upbeat indie rock tracks with elements of pop punk regularly bursting through in the form of catchy riffs and tight, snappy drum pieces. Promise is a term that is perhaps to be used with more caution. For those familiar with JoFo, from the opening quarter they will immediately melt into the quirky and comfortable musical space that the band provides for its’ adoring…

  • The Julie Ruin – Hit Reset

    Julie Ruin isn’t a new concept for Kathleen Hanna. The moniker has been around since the mid- nineties as the title of her post-Bikini Kill solo album, one that bridged the gap and foreshadowed what was to come with Le Tigre. That trio’s explorations with sampled music and drum machines expanded on Julie Ruin’s bedroom-recorded experiments, and the pseudonym was put to bed for over a decade, during which time Hanna’s productivity was curtailed by a long-term debilitating illness. Her struggle with Lyme disease, undiagnosed for years, is documented with stark candour in the 2013 film The Punk Singer, and it’s a topic that crops up…

  • Beyond the Wizards Sleeve – The Soft Bounce

    Erol Alkan’s hugely influential club nights at London’s Trash seamlessly blended dance beats and guitar rock, bearing witness to “I was there” type early live performances from LCD Soundsystem, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Bloc Party before it’s closure in 2007. Over the past decade Alkan has collaborated with acid-house pioneer Richard Norris (also half of 90s techno duo The Grid) as Beyond The Wizards Sleeve, combining their shared love of psychedelic pop to deliver critically acclaimed ‘re-animated’ edits of tracks by the likes of Franz Ferdinand, Interpol and The Chemical Brothers. Debut album The Soft Bounce sees the duo exploring their 1966-meets- 2016 sound over a…

  • Blood Orange – Freetown Sound

    There are few contemporary artists who have gone through such pronounced changes as Mr. Devonte Hynes. From his musical start in the synth-disco- punk outfit Test Icicles through his part in the indie-folk revival with Light Speed Champion and now, probably his most celebrated incarnation, as the eighties revivalist Blood Orange. As if that CV isn’t impressive enough he’s also amassed a veritable pile of song writing credits with artists as diverse as Sky Ferreira, Carly Rae Jepsen (one of the many ladies making an impactful appearance here), Solange and Heems. His chameleon nature and expansive ability obviously calls to mind luminaries like Bowie and…

  • The Avalanches – Wildflower

    Like Guns N’ Roses, Dr. Dre and My Bloody Valentine, The Avalanches have been a cautionary punchline for much of the last decade. Having fired out the gate with an album as alarmingly magnificent as Since I Left You, the band had the world waiting with bated breath for the long gestated follow up. But the months turned into years and the years to a decade and anticipation faded into abandon. The group’s style, plunderphonics, is a found art approach to music wherein everything from lost classics to tv jingles and soundbites are stripped apart and reassembled into something new…

  • Variant Sea – Fable

    Having formed less than a year ago, Dublin based neo-classical project Variant Sea have been quick to lure listeners into the realm of their delicate, cinematic compositions. Their debut EP Seasons of the Mist was an impressive introduction with plenty of Ludovico Einaudi inspired piano motifs and guitar backdrops a lá This Will Destroy You‘s Tunnel Blanket. Now, only nine months after their debut, the duo comprised of pianist Luke Duffy and guitarist Shell Dooley have returned with Fable, an EP that shows us musicians engaging in gradual growth. While the format of the music has remained the same, the impact of influences and the individual confidence presented…